From the category archives:
This article is presented by Kelly Whalen, Consumerism Commentary staff writer who attended Toy Fair this week in New York City. Should you be one of the millions of Americans (nearly 75 percent) who receives a tax refund this year, you may be making all sorts of plans for your money. Some people will plan to spend ... Continue reading this article…
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If you have an adventurous, thrill-seeking personality, your life may never be complete until you’ve solicited an income tax audit from the Internal Revenue Service. The good news is that audits have been more frequent in past years, so the chance of being audited has increased. You may not want to leave this up to ... Continue reading this article…
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February 15, 2010 update: The sale mentioned below is now over. Stay tuned for new sale announcements. Starting today and ending Sunday, February 14, 2010, H&R Block is offering a discount of up to 70 percent off the regular prices for the company’s online do-it-yourself tax filing software, At Home (formerly TaxCut). I consider H&R Block to ... Continue reading this article…
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Last year, I began working with a tax accountant. We reviewed how I filed my income tax returns for 2007 and 2008 and determined that filing differently would have saved me about $15,000 overall. In November, I filed amended income tax returns (1040X) for 2007 and 2008. I received a refund for my 2007 return ... Continue reading this article…
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Starting in 2011 or later, the IRS will be requiring businesses to volunteer more information about their tax avoidance practices and transactions. I use the word “volunteer” loosely. Currently, businesses and even savvy individual taxpayers do all that is possible to reduce the amount of tax owed to the government, even to the point at ... Continue reading this article…
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In November of last year, President Obama and Congress expanded the home buyer tax credit to cover more people who have purchased houses in 2009 and 2010 and to further stimulate the real estate industry. Earlier this month, the IRS released an updated tax form to include the new rules. If you want to claim ... Continue reading this article…
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American Express offers a point-based rewards system called “Membership Rewards” to those qualify for and use their credit or charge cards. Points generally benefit only cardholders who pay their bill in full every month, so any accumulation of benefits does not first need to offset interest or late fee charges. With American Express, these points ... Continue reading this article…
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It seems I have paid the government more than what was necessary over the past few years. When I first started earning money outside of my primary employer in 2004 or 2005, I assumed it would make the most sense to simply claim that income as self-employment income on Schedule C of the standard 1040 ... Continue reading this article…
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Last week I mentioned France would be seeing a new but insignificant tax on carbon emissions and considered the possibilities, including possible reactions, if a similar tax was initiated here in the United States. Both political sides are criticizing this tax and it’s not expected to be effective in terms of its goal of encouraging ... Continue reading this article…
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President Nicolas Sarcozy of France revealed his plans for working to reduce his country’s carbon dioxide emissions. For each taxpayer’s metric ton of carbon dioxide emission due to use of oil, gas, or coal, the government will charge that taxpayer a fee of €17 (roughly $25). This rate would rise over time. Other energy use, ... Continue reading this article…
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Earlier this Fall, the IRS was offering an amnesty program for offshore tax cheats to come forward and admit their wrongdoing, thereby getting a more lenient punishment. Nearly 15,000 Americans who knew they were cheating came forward and admitted their bad behavior. From Reuters: While IRS officials were still analyzing the amount of offshore assets declared in ... Continue reading this article…
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Between March 1917 and January 1984, there have been thirteen major changes in the rules for the estate tax, a tax paid by heirs for wealth inherited. Of these thirteen changes, eight were tax increases and five were tax decreases. In 2001, A study by the University of British Columbia and the University of Michigan ... Continue reading this article…
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The IRS has not formally announced the federal income tax brackets for 2010 yet. In fact, the 2009 tax brackets are still the numbers I — or more accurately, my accountant — will be focusing on in the near future. But around this time each year, The Tax Foundation creates a reasonable estimate of the ... Continue reading this article…
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Every so often I come across a news story that’s more enjoyable to read when I add a vindictive “ha ha ha ha ha” after each sentence. For example: Rich Americans who have evaded taxes by hiding foreign holdings have about a week to turn themselves in to an Internal Revenue Service amnesty program or gamble ... Continue reading this article…
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For those of you who have filed or are planning to file an amended income tax return (form 1040X) to receive the (up to) $8,000 first time homebuyer tax credit this year rather than waiting for next year, there is some good news. Although the IRS is more than likely overwhelmed, the refunds are currently taking ... Continue reading this article…
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This article refers to an earlier version of Form 1040X. Some instructions may be slightly different depending on the form revision the IRS now has available. If you have filed your taxes for the most recent year but would like to take advantage of a new credit, such as the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, ... Continue reading this article…
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As you are reading this, if you are in fact reading on the same day this was written, both the federal and New Jersey government are reaching deep into my bank accounts. At the end of the day, I will find myself worth several thousand dollars less than at the beginning of the day. Today ... Continue reading this article…
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Marginal tax rates are one of the most misunderstood financial concepts, and I intend to write more about this in the future. This misunderstanding occasionally leads people to mistakenly believe that earning $1 over the barrier into the next tax level would result in a significantly higher tax bill because all income would be taxed ... Continue reading this article…
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Now that Tax Day has come and gone again, and anger is subsiding, let’s spend some time thinking about what a better system might look like. Have you heard of the “Fair Tax” proposal? I may be late to the knowledge party (Flexo mentioned it briefly in December 2007 when comparing presiential candidates’ ideas), and it’s ... Continue reading this article…
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As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (see our roundup of ways to take advantage), 2009 and 2010 are good years to make some of the “green” home improvements you may’ve been considering. I’ve had a little trouble, however, navigating and understanding the many tables and footnotes, so I’m condensing ... Continue reading this article…
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